PETALING JAYA, 3 Sept – While the Covid-19 continues to leave a big question mark on major sporting events around the world the Malaysian Thomas and Uber Cup squads are currently in Pulau Tioman for a four-day motivational camp.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will name the teams for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals scheduled to be played in Aarhus, Denmark from Oct 3-11.
Whether the Finals will go ahead is another big question after Taiwan announced that it is pulling out from Finals.
There was more to come when India’s top women’s singles shuttler P.V. Sindhu announced that she has withdrawn from the team for personal reasons.
India’s men’s doubles ace Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has been tested positive for COVID-19.
Badminton powerhouse China is another nation that could skip the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals due to the pandemic.
In the Thomas Cup Finals, Malaysia is drawn in Group A and has Indonesia, Netherlands, and England for company. Malaysian women will battle South Korea, Indonesia, and Australia in Group B.
The top two teams in their respective groups in both Finals will advance to the knockout stage and play in the quarter-finals
Malaysia flopped in the last edition of the Finals in Bangkok in 2018 and failed to achieve its semi-finals target in the Thomas Cup after crashing to a 3-1 defeat to perennial rivals Indonesia in the quarters.
The Malaysian women failed to get past the group stages in the Uber Cup. Malaysia has never won the Uber Cup since it was incepted in 1957.
For the record, Malaysia has won the Thomas Cup five times and this was achieved in 1949, 1952, 1955, 1967 and 1992.
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